Bell’s Lane – In the 1970s, there was a small general store on the left hand side before Captain Herd’s Bridge – I occasionally used it for emergencies purchases on a Sunday afternoon when most larger stores were closed. I lived in Turnbridge Road Maghull.

I am just generally curious about it and the immediate area. I was prompted to think about this when I saw some online reminiscences from the question – do you remember when everywhere was closed on a Sunday.

I wrote my own reminiscences and thought they would be improved with a picture – hence my search began and along the way I discovered the name of the bridge – that I knew as the Running Horse Turnbridge.

I see down the years it has attracted lots of other names but also that “The Runnies” does not appear to be named on any Ordnance Survey Map, at least none available for the Lydiate area from the scans by the National Library of Scotland – thus far I came to your website. sat that another has posted a query and so add mine as maybe a way of connecting with folk with an interest in the local history of South west Lancashire.

Thank you for the opportunity to at least post my question on your website.

I nowadays do not leave home much, so the biggest problem, thus far the Covid-19 restrictions has caused is getting supplies online – which now we can manage just about by using the independent local traders in our part of Essex.

Our part of Essex is Tolleshunt Knights, in Maldon District, immediately bordering Tiptree in Colchester Borough – not unlike the way my home in Maghull was once almost on the border with Lydiate.

With good wishes,

Andrew S Hatton.

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NOTE – a view of Bell’s Lane, Lydiate from Google Streetview website captured in August 2008.

I am fairly sure that back in the 1970s, the little shop to which I refer was in one of the cottages on the left, now cream coloured – I think it may have been the centre cottage. Those propertise could be over one hundred and fifty years old going by my looking at various maps I have seen published by The Ordnance Survey, some of which are over a century old, although, my reading of the scan above, suggests that those cottages photographed were not there in 1846..

I am now curious about Captain Herd and his bridge on Wallbrook Lane, possibly the mapmaker wrongly named both, I wonder if I shall ever discover.

I shall be interested to see if any information is forthcoming from that Local History Group in Maghull and Lydiate where I asked my question.

My question has been succesfully posted here and may get a reply when some of those Merseyside local historians get to read it!

regarding probation as an example of how out of touch with the reality of front line criminal justice system is our prime minister.

The first think I noticed was a basic journalism shortcoming, which suggests that the editor was also at fault, in that a correction was needed because the main point Mr Johnson was making was simply wrong.

Before folk who have no real face to face experience of actual criminal justice at the pinch points, start telling those who have how it is and should be, journalists, politicians and especially policy makers need to properly understand what it is like to work within the crazy muddled system that we have been given by piecemeal legislation that looks for good headlines and votes before it considers the actual outcomes of policies.

That means any changes need to be piloted in small samples, initially in different places.

We have examples of successful piloting – Community Service, and Probation Day Centres from the legislation, I think in 1972 (I was actually involved with that on the fringes) and more recently, something most will have not even heard of, but is almost 100% successful, Circles of Support and Accountability – for serious sex offenders, from a shared project initially between the Home Office and Quakers in Britain, from the early 2000s – I was a trustee of the Quaker organisation that part funded and organised one of the piloted schemes, that has since become independent.

We also have experiences of not piloting and muddled legislation which for example led to the timing of the policy changes (as I think will eventually be demonstrated) that had Usman Khan at liberty in December 2019 without the appropriate safeguards in place. I suspect he probably should not have been at liberty or if he was he should have been better monitored by highly experienced and well-resourced staff with the opportunity to react swiftly if changes were needed – in other words not overloaded with work as most probation frontline practitioners are these days.